Monday, November 03, 2014

Welcome, Brandi. Tell
us how much of yourself you write into your characters.

I think it’s inevitable that some of an author’s traits and
quirks will find themselves in a character, whether or not we intend to place
them there. I value education and independence. Therefore, the heroines in my
historical novels tend to be strong-willed and willing to adopt modes of
thinking that sometimes go against the traditional notions of their day.

What is the quirkiest
thing you have ever done?

I love to create costumes to wear to Renaissance Faires and
scifi conventions. My closet has items that can go from Medieval gypsy to
Victorian lady to airship pirate in a flash.

When did you first
discover that you were a writer?

I was in the third grade. After I finished reading Little House on the Prairie and the
Boxcar Children series, I decided to create my own “series” of adventure
stories. I folded sheets of notebook paper in half and stapled the spine. Then
I would write and do the illustrations in colored pencil. There’s probably a
box of those still in the basement of my childhood home.

Tell us the range of
the kinds of books you enjoy reading.

You shouldn’t ask me this question, Lena,
because I can’t narrow things down ;-) I read historical fiction,
scifi/fantasy, and romance. I like for any story I read to have a thread of
romance woven through it. My favorite authors are Anne Elisabeth Stengl
(Christian fantasy), Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (creator of my favorite literary
character Sherlock Holmes), hardboiled noir writer Raymond Chandler (I have a
thing for fictional detectives, apparently), and Shelley Adina (steampunk- a
subgenre of scifi that incorporates Victorian settings and gadgetry).

How do you keep your
sanity in our run, run, run world?

It goes back to priorities. God first, family, then
everything else. Each morning, I take a few minutes to read Scripture and an
entry in my devotional. I’ll admit that I’ve been tempted to race through these
sessions to get to my writing and completing everyday tasks. However, I’ve
found that when I resisted this urge and chose to devote the first moments of
my day to God, He makes the rest of the day go by more smoothly.

How do you choose
your characters’ names?

If the setting is historical, I try to research the popular
names of the day. I also have a baby name book on my shelf for quick
referencing. The internet provides wonderful name generators for last names.

What is the
accomplishment that you are most proud of?

Building a life with my husband. Before we settled in Texas, our marriage had
seen military deployments and relocations to seven different states in five
years. Throughout the ups and downs of life, my husband has always been
encouraging and supportive of my dreams.

If you were an
animal, which one would you be, and why?

A bird. To me, they represent freedom and a life unburdened
by worldliness and anxiety. Oh, yeah, and they like to sing.

What is your favorite
food?

Asian stir fry. I like to mix in scallops, bok choy, eggs,
and the spiciest sriracha sauce I can find.

What is the problem
with writing that was your greatest roadblock, and how did you overcome it?

For a long time, I was afraid to go against the grain with
my writing. As authors, we’re told to be unique, yet play it safe. Unhelpful
and contradicting, right? When my first book The Preacher’s Wife was published, it featured an ethnically
diverse heroine, an uncommon occurrence in Christian fiction. After I saw how
my publisher believed in that book and how readers enjoyed Marissa’s story, it
encouraged me to keep writing.

Tell us about the
featured book.

A Windswept Promise is the second book in my Brides of
Assurance series. It follows the journey of Sophie Charlton, a pampered yet
spunky town belle who falls for a rugged cowboy named Dusty Sterling. Sophie
comes from a wealthy family, complete with strict parents and three outspoken
siblings. Her parents want her to marry for social standing and prestige. Well,
Dusty works on her family’s farm. You can imagine the dynamics of this
household…

Please give us the
first page of the book.

It’s Founders Day in Assurance, Kansas. In this scene, Sophie is busy making
preparations to enter the town belle contest.

Assurance, Kansas

April 1871

“Sophie, your jambalaya’s burning!”

As her younger brother David called, Sophie Charlton dashed
out of her bedroom and ran down the stairs into the kitchen. A pot gurgled on
the step stove, brown bubbles spilling out from under the lid. She grabbed a
towel from the table and hoisted the pot by its handles away from the hot
surface. Her brother simply stood by the stove and watched.

“David, why did you let the flame get too hot underneath?”
She opened the firebox door and inspected the kindling as it burned to ash.

“Ma said not to touch the food. It’s for the Founders Day Festival.”

“It wouldn’t have been for anything if you had let it burn.
This is supposed to go into my food basket.”

“I called you to come downstairs, didn’t I?” He gave her a
matter-of-fact look.

“At the very last moment.” Sophie shut the door to the stove
and went to the pot of jambalaya. Stock trickled down into the grooves of the
table. Steam rushed out as she lifted the lid.

“Is it bad?” David craned his neck to see.

“No, the stock boiled a bit too high, but I think it’ll
still be alright.” She grabbed a long-handled spoon and prodded the mixture of
sausage, peppers, and tomatoes. “Next time you see it boiling over, take it off
the stove. Don’t call me all the way from upstairs.”

“Well, it’s your dish. I ain’t the one trying to enter some
silly town belle contest.”

“It’s not silly.” Sophie glanced at her freshly laundered
and starched yellow-striped dress to make sure no stock had spilled on it. A
lady’s garments should always be pristine. “And ‘ain’t’ isn’t a word, David.
You’re sixteen years old. How often must I tell you that?”

“That I’m sixteen years old?”

“No, that your grammar is—never mind. I don’t have time for
this. I have to get ready. Go outside and help Dusty with the wagon.” She left
the pot to cool on the table’s surface next to the pie she baked earlier.

“Dusty’s already done hitchin’ the horses up. See out the
window.”

Sophie viewed the family’s wagon and the team of horses
waiting in front of the walkway on the warm April Saturday. The pair of bay
geldings stared past the fence at the main road into town, black blinders
strapped on their heads. Her father’s hired worker was nowhere to be seen.

“Where is Dusty?”

“Probably getting cleaned up. You should finish dressing
too.”

Stating the obvious. She hated how her brother thought that
made him sound clever. “Do not touch that pot. I’ll be back down in a moment.”

Sophie returned upstairs and passed her parents’ room, where
she could hear her mother and father talking as they got ready for the
festival. She grinned to hold back a squeal. Finally, she was allowed to
compete for the chance to be crowned Assurance’s town belle. Her mother thought
she had been too young to compete in prior years, and last year, her family
wasn’t in town for the festival at all. This was Sophie’s chance.

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